


SV: Truth

by fhsa_archivist



Category: Smallville
Genre: Angst, Challenge Response, Drama, First Time, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-02-10
Updated: 2006-02-10
Packaged: 2019-02-05 17:28:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12798975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fhsa_archivist/pseuds/fhsa_archivist
Summary: Clark tells the truth.





	SV: Truth

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Haven, the archivist: This story was originally archived at [Fandom Haven Story Archive (FHSA)](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Fandom_Haven_Story_Archive), was scheduled to shut down at the end of 2016. To preserve the archive, I began working with the OTW to transfer the stories to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in November 2017. If you are this creator and the work hasn't transferred to your AO3 account, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Fandom Haven Story Archive collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/fhsa/profile).

Clark knew the answer had to be here. He didn't know how he knew, he just knew. He pretended to ignore Pete's protests, told himself that they weren't making him nervous. He focused on his task, finally finding the arsenal of weapons in a locked closet.

 

What he found there shocked him. FREAKS spelled out in giant letters, an accusation of what Clark had known himself to be for the last two years. He turned his head abruptly. And saw the pictures.

 

The first two victims in bright color, but it was the third picture that caught Clark's eye. Everything narrowed to that picture, his best friend somberly facing the camera, that black v-neck shirt Lex didn't wear often enough. The murders so far... Lex was the next victim.

 

Clark hoped he wasn't too late.

 

The world slowed around him as he ran to Metropolis, giving him plenty of time to think. His sudden appearance wouldn't go unnoticed by Lex, even if he managed to save Lex's life. It might go unsaid, simmer between them, drive the wedge between them deeper. They'd been growing apart for months, even before this summer, secrets and girlfriends coming between them. Clark knew very well that Lex wouldn't accept that he just happened to be in Metropolis, just happened to know that Lex was the target of a serial killer. After this summer, Lex might not question it, at least out loud.

 

Clark was tired of lying.

 

He was tired of hiding himself from Lex.

 

As Clark sped toward LuthorCorp, tracked the progress of the bullet aiming for the back of Lex's head, watched his best friend face death one more time, Clark made a decision.

 

If Lex asked, Clark would tell the truth.

 

No more lies.

 

The phrase echoed in Clark's head as he stretched out his hand, blocking the bullet before it could shatter Lex's skull. It flattened against his palm, clinking anticlimactically to the ground. Clark grabbed Lex, grateful to have a living, breathing man in his arms.

 

"Get down, Lex!" Van would shoot again, and Clark wasn't going to let any of those bullets hit Lex.

 

***

 

"Clark."

 

Clark walked, slump-shouldered, into Lex's study. Lex had asked how he'd known that Lex would be the next victim, but not how Clark had managed to get to Metropolis when he was supposed to be at home doing chores. Clark knew it was too much of a coincidence that he'd been there when Lex needed him, but Lex wasn't asking.

 

Clark suspected that Lex was still ignoring the accusation that he was a freak.

 

"Hey, Lex." Clark dropped himself onto the leather sofa, watching Lex type at his desk. Lex was as stoic as ever, more, if that was possible. Clark wondered what he was thinking.

 

"Save any more lives today, Clark?" It hadn't been twenty-four hours yet, but the dry tone and succinct wording was what Clark had come to expect from Lex.

 

Clark shook his head, which was pointless because Lex still hadn't looked up from his laptop. "Nah." Lex did look up then, probably because it was usually at this point that Clark got defensive. Clark met Lex's gaze, waiting for the questions, but none came. With a miniscule shrug, Lex turned back to his laptop.

 

"I'll be done in a minute."

 

"Okay." Clark sat awkwardly on the couch, rubbing his hands over his thighs. If Lex didn't ask, he had no reason to bring it up. He was suddenly overwhelmed with an urge to tell Lex everything, now, with no prompting. But he couldn't do that. Not without knowing that Lex really wanted to know.

 

The couch dipped beside him and Clark turned his head to the side, offering Lex a small smile. Lex smiled back, which was one of the things Clark had noticed since they'd both returned from their exiles; Lex smiled at him now. Not the half-smiles and smirks from last year, but sincere, if not full, smiles. The smile spread Lex's lips over his teeth, stretching the small scar on his upper lip, making it paler than the rest of his mouth.

 

"So tell me, Clark." Lex reached for a tumbler Clark hadn't noticed on the coffee table. "How does it feel to be the local hero again?"

 

Clark lowered his eyes, disappointed. That wasn't the question he'd wanted to hear. "I'm not a hero." He chose his next words carefully, hoping to goad Lex into an argument. "I was just in the right place at the right time."

 

Lex subtly raised an eyebrow over the rim of his glass, his eyes sparkling at the too-simple explanation. Lex slowly lowered his glass, carefully eyeing Clark as he set it on the table. Clark twisted his hands in his lap, waiting for the question, the argument. What he got was almost as good.

 

"Hm. Who would predict that you'd be in Metropolis... right in front of LuthorCorp... less than three hours after school let out?" An accusation. Clark refused to give into the smile that twitched the corners of his lips. "I'm honored that you cut class to be in Metropolis just in time to save me, but I don't think your parents would be as pleased." It was a wry statement, followed by another sip of scotch and an ironic expression on his face. Lex would look at him in just a moment, disappointment melting his irises, then take another swig of scotch and change the subject.

 

Clark wasn't about to let that happen.

 

Clark placed his hand on Lex's knee. Lex's fingers clenched minutely around the tumbler and he slowly swiveled his head around, a vaguely amused look on his face. His expression went blank but before he could take a breath to speak, Clark leaned forward.

 

"I didn't cut class, Lex." Cynicism warred with hope in Lex's gaze, and Clark swallowed. "I figured out that you were the next target while I was still in Smallville." He looked down at his hand on Lex's knee. "We'd gotten out of school a couple hours before that."

 

Amusement, disbelief, confusion, comprehension... Lex's face remained passive but Clark watched his eyes, following the myriad expressions passing over Lex's face as he took in the contradictory information. Clark was shocked to see anger there too, and struggled to understand it, to get his brain to catch up with the fact that he'd kept so much from Lex and was finally admitting to it. Fights and denials became a waste of time, a waste of friendship, an obstacle to what could have been more. Lies and excuses bubbled to the surface of his mind, each one heating his body with shame and relief for finally having ended it.

 

Lex nodded into his drink, pulling back to stare into the amber liquid. "How did you get to Metropolis so quickly, Clark?"

 

Finally, a question. Clark flexed his fingers over Lex's knee and addressed Lex's left shoulder. "I ran."

 

"You ran." Not exactly a statement. Lex tilted the tumbler in his hand. "Over one hundred fifty miles in twenty minutes." Lex looked up, and suddenly Clark was falling into his eyes.

 

"Five," he blurted. "Five minutes." Lex's eyebrows rose and Clark yanked his hand away from Lex's knee. He'd told the truth. Now it was Lex's turn to react.

 

"I see." Lex set the tumbler on the table, the sound of glass against polished wood filling the room. Before Clark could translate the look on Lex's face, Lex spoke. "Very impressive. Have you ever considered joining the track team?"

 

Clark jerked with surprise. He hadn't expected humor. Lex had a tiny, triumphant smile on his face. Clark laughed. "Come on, Lex. That wouldn't be fair."

 

Lex shrugged a shoulder, the side of his mouth curling up. "The ends justify the means, Clark. Haven't I taught you that by now?"

 

Completely avoiding the running subject, joking about being morally ambiguous in order to get ahead. That was the Lex Clark remembered.

 

But not.

 

"Machiavelli?"

 

Lex might have raised his glass in mock cheer if he'd been holding it; as it was, he simply nodded. Lex stared straight ahead, his features clouding before he shifted and offered Clark a deceptively gentle smile. "So what other secrets have you been keeping from me, Clark?" His tone was light, his face soft. Clark replaced his hand on Lex's knee.

 

"Truth for a truth, Lex," Clark replied, assigning rules to a game they'd been playing separately for two years. Lex raised an eyebrow, but nodded.

 

"What do you want to know?"

 

Clark didn't want the game to end here, but he had to know. He raised his palm to Lex's shoulder to soften the blow. When Lex was distracted by Clark's hand, Clark spoke. "Did the meteors do more than take away your hair?"

 

Lex visibly tensed, his face hardening, denial swimming in his eyes. Lex's reluctance to accept his own freak status was in direct contrast with his acceptance of Clark's differences, and Clark didn't know which of them that hurt more. Lex looked away, his jaw tightening, a muscle twitching in his cheek.

 

"It's a distinct possibility." The flatness of Lex's voice masked a depth of pain that Clark couldn't even imagine... a self-loathing. Clark unintentionally tightened his hand on Lex's shoulder, the familiar guilt consuming him as he thought of all the people he'd hurt with his arrival. "I suppose it doesn't matter. People already look at me as a freak anyway." Lex waved off Clark's protestations before he could voice them.

 

"What else do you want to know?" Ask me about the car, ask me about the car...

 

Lex reached forward and ran a finger over the rim of the tumbler, then settled back into the couch. "I think we've shared enough secrets for one day," he said unexpectedly, turning his face so Clark could feel the heat of it against his hand. "Let's save some for a rainy day, so we'll have something to look forward to."

 

Clark didn't disagree. He moved his hand up to the tempting warmth of Lex's chin, running his finger along Lex's jawbone. Lex stared steadily at Clark, sitting stock still. Clark's fingers twitched when Lex conceded with a tilt of his chin.

 

"You know what I want to know, Clark?"

 

Clark traced up Lex's jaw with one finger. "What?"

 

Lex ducked his head so Clark's fingers ended up on his temple. "I want to know if you want to kiss me."

 

Clark's heart pounded in his chest, in his ears, the suggestion not so sudden as it was terrifying. He was barely aware that he'd nodded, but when Lex leaned forward, he knew he must have.

 

It was the most natural thing in the world to slide his hand around Lex's head, let his palm settle over the bump where Van had been aiming with the gun. Carefully cupping Lex's skull, Clark leaned into Lex, licking island-dry lips with a tentative tongue. Even after all the girls he'd kissed and done more with this summer, this was new, this was special. This was what he'd been waiting for, wanting, the whole time he'd tried to be a boyfriend for Lana. Every time he'd kissed her, wishing she was Lex. And this, the reality, slower and more intoxicating than the fantasy.

 

"Clark." Low voice, breath on his upper lip. "Open your eyes." Clark opened his eyes, and saw the plea in Lex's: Let this be real. So Clark held onto Lex, looked into his eyes, and told the truth with his whole body.

 

~end~


End file.
